Still Standing
by Caramel1941
Summary: Anything that hits us we can take. For as long as we are together, it is guaranteed that we will continue to stand, side by side, for eternity.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Main parts of story I want to cover because I despise a lot of the events that occurred in the Rory/Jess plotline.1) When Dean broke up with Rory, they never got back together, but Dean still wishes to be with Rory; 2) At no point in this story will Jess leave. PS – I don't have a great understanding of the relationship and its timeline except from what I have gathered from reruns of the show and multiple fanfictions. I apologize for any timeline errors, but hey – it's fanfiction. It's my story._

Lane sat in her room doing her trigonometry homework, trying not to keel over at the stench of the food (if you can call it that) emanating from the kitchen, when a tap sounded from the window. Rory's face suddenly appeared and climbed into the room as Lane opened the window. "Hi. What are you doing?"

"Trig. You want to help? You definitely understand this more than me."

"I'm good, thanks," Rory hesitated, not sure how to approach the reason for why she came here. "Listen, I need a favor to ask of you."

"Sure, anything. Need to borrow another CD? Music advice, an ear to talk about Jess?" Lane wondered. She noticed how Rory looked apprehensive and shuffled her feet. When Lane mentioned Jess, a blush crept into her cheeks.

"Not necessarily. I need you to go to Hartford with me tomorrow to figure some things out. It would be easier there because of the lack of privacy factor in Stars Hollow. And this is something that is big and needs to be kept secret. Under lock and key. Got it?" Lane began getting nervous. Rory was never like this.

"If you want me to help, it would be easier if I know what I am dealing with. Just the gist of it anyway." Rory tensed, knowing that this was going to occur. Rory could barely even handle it, let alone vocalize it. _Just tell her, it'll be like ripping off a Band-Aid. Quick and easy._

She inhaled deeply before mumbling, "Jess and I slept together over spring break, and now I think I might be pregnant. I need you to go to Hartford with me to buy a test." Silence filled the room. Lane could barely think and sat down on the bed, her face frozen in shock.

"Oh my God. Wow. That is just…wow."

"Yeah."

"I'll be at your house tomorrow. I'll say I'm going to the mall with you."

"Thank you," Rory whispered. "Remember to-"

"Not tell anyone, not even Jess or your mom, or anybody. Not even Pierpont. I promise. Now get out of here before my mom hears you." She turned back to the window, which Rory began climbing out of onto the roof.

"And Rory?" Lane said. Rory turned back around with a silently asking Lane _"What?"_

"I'm glad you told me, and remember that I will always be there for you."

"Thank you so much Lane. You have no idea how much that means to me." Rory replied before descending the tree and walking to Al's to pick up dinner.

As Rory disappeared from sight, Lane walked back to her desk. "Stars Hollow will be the death of me one day." She muttered as she went back to her homework.


	2. Chapter 2

The drug store loomed across the street, facing a sidewalk on which Rory and Lane stood. Rory could barely breathe and was shaking lightly, but took the effort to keep a calm façade. Lane stood next to her, patiently waiting for Rory to gather up the courage and walk across the street, through the doors and just get it over with. Lane had spaced out about five minutes ago, so she was surprised when she heard a little mumble say, "Let's go. Get it over with."

The street was crossed, doors were opened, and now Rory stood in the store's bathroom facing away from the test as if it had the bubonic plague. She gathered up the courage, lists being made in her head. Her brain whispered a mantra of _Band-Aid, Band-Aid, Band-Aid._ She flipped the test over and was suddenly faced with one little word that brought her world, Yale, and everything that she worked towards, crumbling down.

Pregnant.

Rory's faced drained of color and her breathing quickened. The room was spinning and choked sobs were racking her body. She struggled, but faintly cried for Lane. Lane rushed through the doors and grabbed her friend, hugging her tight. She didn't need to look at the test if this was Rory's reaction. Lane just held onto Rory, encouraging her to just let everything out.

Minutes felt like hours as the clock ticked away. Rory looked up from where her face had been buried in Lane's shoulder. Tear tracks covered her face. Lane's heart broke at the sight, wishing that there was more she could do for her friend.

"I'm…I'm-" Rory gasped. She could barely comprehend it, let alone vocalize it.

"I know. And I will be here for you every step of the way." Lane said, quiet and calm. She helped Rory stand up and walked her to the bus stop. They mindlessly boarded the bus as it arrived and sat in silence.

The bus stopped in Stars Hollow and they got off. Rory turned to Lane. There were so many things she wanted to say to her, to express her gratitude, but instead just hugged her. "I need to go and tell my mom."

"Okay." Once again, Rory disappeared.


	3. Chapter 3

The couch was occupied by Rory when Lorelai came home. Blaring through the speakers was The Smiths, and books and papers littered the floor. "Hey Sweets, I brought food." Called Lorelai.

"What kind? Pizza, Chinese, Indian?"

"None of the above. Luke's. I got you a cheeseburger, curly fries, and-," She was cut off by the sound of retching coming from the bathroom. "Rory? Sweetie?" Lorelai walked into the bathroom and immediately stopped. Rory had her head resting on the cold porcelain of the toilet seat and looked absolutely miserable. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, mom. Just sick is all."

"Do you need anything?" Rory nodded feebly before dry heaving for several moments.

"Can I have some water and 7-Up?"

"Sure, kid. Anything you need." Lorelai left the bathroom and gathered up the beverages. She returned once more and handed them to Rory. Lorelai sat down against the wall, Rory's head against her shoulder.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" Lorelai asked softly. She felt her shirt gradually moisten, and looked down to see tears staining Rory's face. "Aw, hun. No crying. There is no use for tears."

"I'm….I'm pregnant." Rory whispered apprehensively, dreading Lorelai's reaction. The silence dragged on, each minute growing tenser as they ticked by.

Finally, Lorelai spoke. "Wow. That's just…wow."

"You're not mad?"

"What? Are you crazy? Of course I'm mad. I'm freaking furious! At you and at Jess. I mean, how could you be this irresponsible? I thought you knew to be safe. But above all, I am disappointed and sad. I expected you to not make my mistake, to be a better person than I could ever be. And now I guess I didn't teach you properly because now you're pregnant and I am a failure of a mother."

Tears were now streaming down both of their faces, and Rory stared at her mother in disbelief. "This isn't your fault. It was mine. I chose to have sex. I felt like I was ready for that next step, especially with Jess. And anyways we were safe, even though it doesn't look like it. We used a condom, but we didn't realize it broke until afterwards. Plus, I am on the pill. Or, I was anyways. We took precaution, I swear." Rory pleaded, willing Lorelai to believe her. It was rare for Rory to be considered a disappointment, especially in her mother's eyes. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

"And look at where that got you," Lorelai pointed out, before noticing the look of hurt dance over Rory's face. "Sorry, that was harsh. I'm glad that you at least took precautions, but the results are still the same. My beautiful daughter has been deflowered and that damn hoodlum just happened to impregnate you." Rory remained silent. The emotion in Lorelai's words rendered her speechless.

After a minute Rory asked, "What should I do?"

Lorelai chuckled dryly in response. "The million dollar question. I remember asking myself that very question. Currently, you have three options: be pregnant for nine months and then put it up for adoption, keep it and raise it, or abort."

"I don't want to abort. I'm not against other people doing it, but I don't think I can do that."

"What about adoption?" Rory thought for several moments.

"While it's a nice option, I'll probably get too attached and won't be able to follow through. I've only known about the baby for a few hours and I'm already attached."

"So…you'll keep the kid. Raise it." Rory let out a breath of air, weighing her options. Several things rushed through her head at once. _What about Yale? Her dreams? How will Jess react? What if he doesn't want it while I raise it? _Rory couldn't imagine her child not having her father around, just like her.

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, it scares me to pieces, but it seems like the best option I have."

"Okay," The silence came once more, but Lorelai couldn't shake the thought that kept rolling around her brain. "Does Jess know?"

"No."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Yes. He deserves to know. The baby is half him. I'm just scared of his reaction."

"Okay." Lorelai repeated. Before either person could reply, Rory felt a wave of nausea rush over her and resumed retching.

Lorelai immediately grabbed her hair before stating, "I guess all chances of you lying about this are gone. Well, I'll be damned. My eighteen-year-old daughter is pregnant."

"No shit, Sherlock." Came the mumbled reply.

"Hey Luke, is Jess here?" Rory asked as she and Lorelai entered the diner the following morning.

"Yeah, he's upstairs."

"Thanks." Rory went through the curtain and up the stairs. Luke turned to Lorelai and poured her a cup of coffee.

"Don't worry. I'll go check on them in ten minutes. Like I said, perfect system."

"Don't." Lorelai demanded.

"Why not?"

"Just don't. I'll let you know about the situation later. Right now, you will leave them alone because I know for a fact that nothing is going to happen."

"But-"

"Luke Danes, you will remain down here serving, your customers, and not asking questions. Do I make myself clear?" Luke opened his mouth to reply, but promptly shut it after seeing the look in  
Lorelai's eyes, silently daring him to continue. He replied by topping off her cup of coffee.

Rory knocked on the door. She heard a faint "Come in" echo from the other side of the door. She stepped through the threshold and located Jess sitting at the table eating some cereal while reading _The Sun Also Rises._ "Hey." He got up and kissed her. It gradually got more heated, as neither could pull away. He brushed his tongue across her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She immediately opened her mouth, reveling in the sensations her body made as his tongue explored.

She pulled away several moments later, breathless, as she remembered her true purpose for being there. He began kissing along her jaw line and down the column of her throat.

"Jess," he grumbled in response

"Why?"

"Because I need to talk to you."

"And it can't wait?"

"No, it's big."

"How big?"

"Kurt Cobain suicide big." He sighed against her neck, his breath tickling her ear, causing her body to involuntarily shiver.

"Okay, fine," He said after he momentarily dropped a small kiss on her lips. "Talk." Rory rolled her eyes and sighed.

" Well, I can't just drop it on you. It takes a lot of effort to say." She said, exasperated.

"Either you tell me now, or you can go on your merry way down to the diner, drink your coffee, and eat you pancakes."

"You drive a hard bargain." She leaned in closer to him, lips barely brushing.

"That I do." He resumed kissing her. She lightly pushed him over to the couch and pushed him onto it, defiant.

"You will not distract me because you need to know this. And now I'm saving you the trouble of sitting down when you find out what I have to tell you." Jess looked at her expectantly, his eyebrows raised, mirth dancing in his eyes, his mouth twitched up in a slight smirk. Rory paced nervously in front of him for a few minutes, trying to ignore his eyes following her movements.

Minutes passed before Jess rolled his eyes and moved to stand up, saying, "Well, if you're not going to tell me, I need to go downstairs before Luke yells at-"

"I'm pregnant." Rory blurted. Jess froze in his tracks, his entire body tense. He looked at her quizzically, checking for any clues to see if she was lying. He didn't find any. The couch was occupied once more.

"Shit," he breathed. "How? I thought we were safe. I though we took the necessary precautions to prevent this situation."

"So did I! But remember? The condom broke and…and I forgot to take the pill that day – don't tell my mom about that part; she thinks I took it and it was ineffective-and now we are in the situation we were trying to prevent, and now I am scared. And I'm rambling. Stop me, now." Jess grabbed her hand and pulled her down, massaging her shoulders to calm her down.

As he heard her breath even out, he began to speak quietly, "What are we going to do?" Rory smiled weakly, her eyes shining with tears, thanking any god that may exist that he said 'we.'

"I don't know. I went over my options and only found one that seemed reasonable, but it depended on you and what you wanted to do." Jess' heart fluttered as she spoke, flattered that she actually factored him into her decision.

"What was the option?"

"Keep it and raise it. But if you don't want to be in the kid's life or mine, then I would consider the other options available."

"Okay."

"Okay..?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?

"Yes, I will be with you and the kid." Rory felt a weight lift off of her shoulders, but felt another one forming.

"Jess, I…I don't want you to feel obligated."

"First off, I'm not. Second, and you should? You're the one who has the baby growing inside of you. You're being forced into this and that is completely unfair."

"But-"

"No buts, Rory. Don't even try. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I want to be with you, and you and I can do this. Raise a kid, we can do it. As long as we are together, we can do this," He waited for her to say something, but all he heard was silence. "Ror?"

"Sorry," she turned around and straddled him, his hands immediately going to her hips. She had tears flowing down her face. The pad of his thumb brushed them away. "Hormones. It's just…" She crushed her lips to his, and Jess was overwhelmed, letting himself be dominated.

"You're amazing, you know?" she said as she pulled away, moments later.

"No, but if you keep telling me, it might register somewhere in the depths of my mind," He remarked with a slight smirk. She just replied by kissing him once more, before being interrupted by Rory's stomach growling. He pulled away and placed his hands on her stomach lightly. "So that's our kid in there."

"Yup."

"Huh."

"Why hello again, monosyllabic boyfriend. I was wondering where you went." He pushed her off his lap and he stood next to her, pulling her towards the door.

"French toast."

"What?"

"Pancakes are gross. French toast on the other hand…" he just shook his head, the corner of his mouth turning up in a slight smile.

"French toast it is. But no coffee." Rory gasped loudly, stopping in her tracks and pulling Jess to face her.

"No coffee?"

"No."

"But, but-" she spluttered.

"Out of the question."

"But Jeeessss," she whined, drawing out his name.

"Rory." She sighed loudly.

"Fine, have it your way."

"I normally do."

"I hate you."

"Okay then. No French toast for you." Jess said as he went through the curtain at the bottom of the stairs.

"Jess!"


	4. Chapter 4

_Grey speckled walls and cold, uncomfortable chairs filled the room. Pointless magazines littered end tables and secretaries sat at desks behind plastic screens with faux smiles plastered on to their faces, making them look as if they actually cared. Phones rang endlessly while numerous people sat in the cold, uncomfortable chairs, all providing an awkward silence that pulsed loudly in Rory's ears. Her fingernails were mutilated, chipped away by her nervous energy, and of course, teeth. Alongside her sat Lorelai, who was flipping away through an old issue of US Weekly, unaware of Rory's turmoil bubbling around here insides._

_Rory faintly heard a pleasant voice call her and felt Lorelai tug on her hand, forcing her up and through the door to a smaller room with grey speckled walls, cold, uncomfortable chairs, and an awkward silence that resumed once more. Each successive minute felt longer as the clock ticked them away. The silence was so overwhelming that Rory fell out of her chair as the door opened, revealing Rory's doctor._

_As Rory filled in the doctor with Rory's current condition, she felt some of her fear and worries ebb away incrementally slowly, for her doctor showed no signs of judgment toward Rory. Looking around the room, Rory noticed several pamphlets on teenage pregnancy, which made Rory realize that teenage pregnancy was nothing new for her Dr. Lang. _

_Soon, Rory's O negative blood rested in a vial, waiting to be tested. Approximately half an hour passed before Rory found herself staring at a sheet that confirmed the credibility of the home pregnancy test she used. She was indeed pregnant. 7 weeks pregnant, to be precise. Oh boy._

As Rory sat in the familiar waiting room once more with her mother, with the addition of Jess for her first ultrasound, the memory of her first appointment of her pregnancy kept floating around her brain. The nerves returned and her hand held a white-knuckle grip on Jess' hand, which he returned with equal force. In ways, she was excited. While being pregnant at eighteen years young isn't an ideal situation, it is breathtaking knowing that a human being was developing within her, and all it took was one night of passion, love, and stupidity.

On the other hand, she was worried; not only about the baby, but also about Jess and his true thoughts. He said he would be there for her and the baby, but what if he did leave? What if he got scared and she was left to raise the child on her own? What if they broke up? Before she could answer those questions –as if she possibly could- her name was called.

Jess felt all of the feeling leave his and as Rory held on with a vice-like grip. While he was cool and collected on the exterior, he could barely think straight on the interior. Luke had found out about the confirmed pregnancy a few days ago and chewed him out for a couple of hours before leaving the apartment, mumbling (swearing) under his breath. Luke came back five minutes later and simply told Jess to not leave Rory or the kid, or Luke would definitely hurt him. Doesn't matter if he was family, he would be dead-meat. That just made Jess all the more anxious.

In a few minutes, or hours if the damn doctor didn't hurry up, he would see his kid for the first time. And to be honest, that simple thought had Jess scared shitless. He could barely comprehend it himself. It must be a lot worse for Rory considering this was taking place inside of her for a full nine months.

He heard Rory's name be called and he stood up, feeling the gravity of what was to come smash down on top of his shoulders and the butterflies in his stomach to be like Rory and Lorelai on their Saturday night sugar highs.

Dr. Lang walked through the door and saw Lorelai and Rory sitting there, along with a teenage boy, presumably the father. They amicably shook hands and introduced themselves. Dr. Lang explained the procedure of an ultrasound before placing the cool gel onto Rory's stomach, making her shiver. He turned on the screen and moved the wand over her lower abdomen. He noticed the image on the screen before breathing a single word, which could have been equivalent to a general commanding his platoon. "Whoa."

Three heads turned sharply to the doctor before spouting off worried questions. He ignored them and flipped a switch. The sound of a heartbeat filled the room, silencing the occupants. Moments later, Lorelai's face had a look of realization and fear. Rory whispered nervously, "Dr. Lang? Why did you say 'Whoa'?"

"I said that because you hear that?" He looked at her and saw her shake her head no. "That is a double heartbeat. And on the monitor you can see not one, but two fetuses. Rory, you are pregnant with twins."

Rory stared at him mouth agape, and Jess' body was tense. Lorelai just said one syllable. "Huh."

Jess sat behind Rory, their bodies flush and his arms circled her waist. She leaned her head back against his shoulder and her citrus shampoo clouded his nostrils. He exhaled in her hair, nuzzling her neck. "I am pregnant with twins." She said quietly.

"I know, I was there."

"You and me are going to be parents to twins. Twins, as in two kids."

"I gathered."

"Don't be a smart ass."

"I'm not. I'm just saying that I already know. You don't need to keep repeating it."

"Sorry, it's just difficult to wrap my head around."

"I kn-"

"Don't say those two words, or you will finally be on the receiving end of my withering stare, which I don't want to do because as I said before, it could hurt you."

"I've been hurt before." The corners of Rory's mouth twitched up, and she closed her eyes, relaxing into Jess even more. Jess looked down into Rory's lap and smiled briefly. On her lap rested a photo of two grey blobs. His kids. Even though he was terrified of being a father, a horrible one at the very least, to two kids, it was still kind of nice knowing that the two blobs in the photo were his kids, the result of him and Rory, the woman who made everything better, having sex.

He chuckled lightly. There was no other way to phrase that without being overtly blunt. Making love just sounds weird, intercourse is too unfeeling, and coitus was just too funny. Any other way like 'the mattress mambo' was absurd and made it seem as if it wasn't special, because it was.

In the simplest terms, he had sex with Rory, and it was wonderful. He wasn't all that great at verbalizing his emotions, so he tried to show her how he felt about her in the way they had sex. It wasn't animalistic and it wasn't too shy. It was just them, which made it the best sex. In ways he was kind of glad Rory got pregnant. Not like their situation was ideal, but because it was the sex with which a child, or children, should be conceived. Not rough, shy, or animalistic sex. Just the loving kind in which no words need to be said. Not even the three words either party has yet to say.

"Hey Ror?"

"Yeah?"

"We are going to be parents. To twins, as in two kids."

"I know." The both smiled lightly. Silence enveloped them once more as they watched the sunset from the reflection in the lake.

"Hey Ror?" Jess broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I love you." She looked up at his face and saw him looking down at her. She looked at his lips before kissing him sweetly. Pausing for breath moments later, she whispered against his lips, "I love you, Jess," before kissing him once more.

The bridge was most definitely Jess' favorite place.


End file.
